


last christmas i gave you my heart (maybe next year)

by were1993



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Angst, Holidays, M/M, Not everyone celebrates Christmas but its an excuse to celebrate and drink, Supernatural Elements
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-27
Updated: 2016-12-27
Packaged: 2018-09-12 15:22:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,318
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9078544
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/were1993/pseuds/were1993
Summary: Last Christmas, Minghao gave his heart away. This year, well, it no longer matters. He doesn’t have another heart to give, and even if he did, Minghao doesn’t think he could love someone, human or otherwise, as much as he loved Mingyu.





	

_last christmas i gave you my heart (maybe next year)_

\---

Xu Minghao hated Christmas. He hated all the cheery jingles, the sparkling ornaments, the colorfully wrapped boxes and everything else that reminded him of his stupid _, stupid_ mistake last year. 

Last year, Minghao thought he couldn’t be happier. He had walked down the cold streets of Seoul hand in hand with the human who was his everything. Kim Mingyu had looked so radiant, a literal angel bathed in Christmas lights. Minghao had stopped breathing when Mingyu leaned in for a quick peck of the lips—“Mistletoe,” had been the only explanation with a cheeky smile. And in that moment, next to the tacky, over-decorated tree outside of the shopping center, Minghao gave Mingyu his heart. Opened up his chest cavity and offered the living organ to the human. 

It had been a mistake. 

Mingyu took his heart and disappeared into the winter night. And it’s been a year since Minghao’s felt that familiar steady beat against his ribs.

Last Christmas, Minghao gave his heart away. This year, well, it no longer matters. He doesn’t have another heart to give, and even if he did, Minghao doesn’t think he could love someone, human or otherwise, as much as he loved Mingyu. 

—- 

Minghao wasn’t really normal. Or to be more accurate, he wasn’t quite _human_. In terms of the supernatural, he was actually a normal staple of their world. A majority even. 

Minghao was a witch. _No_ , not a wizard. A _witch_. 

Witches were fundamentally different than wizards. A human and other magical folk could use amulets and magical devices to train and become a wizard. A human could _not_ learn to be a witch. Minghao had been born a witch into a family of witches. 

“Do not fall in love with a human,” his mother had warned him as a child. She would cradle him against her chest with the steady beat of his father’s heart lulling him into sleep. “They could not tolerate our way of life.” 

As a child, Minghao didn’t quite understand it. He went to school with humans and witchfolk alike. He played tag, practiced _wu shu_ and learned b-boying with a mix of everyone—humans, witches, wizards-in-training, undead and even faeries. His friends were a peculiar bunch but he loved them. 

As a teenager, Minghao _still_ didn’t quite understand it. He found himself attracted to humans both their males and females. He didn’t dislike the stubbly kisses from humans males or the press of full thighs from human females. Minghao quite liked humans and didn’t find it beyond his imagination to fall in love with one.

So he failed to heed his mother’s warnings. Xu Minghao fell in love with the human, Kim Mingyu. 

And as his father said, “Your mother is always right.” 

—— 

At the age of seventeen, Minghao became an adult. 

Their coming of age ceremony was a little more than just a ‘party.’ Mingyu didn’t quite understand why Minghao was going to be gone for a whole week—“What about school?” And Minghao was too lazy to explain it all. 

It was a lot of rituals and acceptance trials and history upon history up history. He gave Mingyu the basic gist: Witches were unlike humans that their hearts weren’t apart of their necessary anatomy. It was their power core that gave them life. And a witch was only deemed an adult when they completed certain trials relying on their power core. 

“So you’re going on an adventure?” Mingyu had asked. They had been so young back then, but even then, Minghao knew he loved Mingyu. 

“No,” Minghao had denied immediately, smiling when the other teen crinkled his nose in annoyance. “It’s more like a test.” 

“Well, that sucks,” Mingyu had frowned. “I haven’t even started studying for history yet.” 

“Yeah, me neither,” Minghao had shrugged. 

He had spared his boyfriend some rather important details. The ceremony was a little squeamish for humans, but it didn’t hurt for witches. He didn’t need the organ that beat in his chest, so having it removed for a week was more for ceremony than anything else. 

The heart organ was only important for partnerships. Minghao knew he could never exchange hearts with Mingyu like his parents had, but at the age of seventeen, Minghao hadn’t cared. 

He had been so in love and the future seemed limitless. 

—— 

“It’s really just an old tradition,” Junhui shrugs. He pats Minghao on the back comfortingly. “No one in our generation really switches hearts anymore. I’m practically married but it’s still beating right here in my own chest.” 

“Good for you,” Minghao says bitterly, glaring at the plastic angles and snowflakes hanging from the ceiling. 

His best friend lied. Junhui said they were going out just for lunch to catch up. Instead he finds himself at a jewelry store as Junhui was looking for the perfect ring. Minghao had said that he would accompany his best friend so that the older witch wouldn’t chicken out, but _around Christmas?_ Junhui _knows_. 

“Do you think he’ll like this one?” Junhui asks nervously. The band was simple and the diamond on the smaller end, but it shined beautifully. Minghao knew nothing of diamonds and rings so he shrugged. “Hao, come on! You know Jihoon!” 

“I don’t know how he likes his rings,” Minghao scoffs. 

“Do you think he’d wear it?” Junhui asks, fiddling with the ring. “What if he doesn’t like it? What if it’s not expensive enough or like the diamond isn’t big enough or—” 

“If this is Jihoon-hyung we’re talking about,” Minghao says in a deadpan voice. “He’ll pick out something wrong with any ring.” 

“You see I don’t want him to be able to say anything is wrong with it,” Junhui whines. He places the ring back onto the display mat and buries his face in his hands. “I want him to see it and say it’s perfect.” 

“That’s if he says yes first,” Minghao quips. 

“With Jihoon, did you think I would risk not asking him before hand?” Junhui snorts. He shoots Minghao a dirty look. “He said yes long ago, but we just…never made it official.” 

“Junnie-hyung, honestly, he’ll complain about how the band is too thick or thin, how the diamond is too big or small, how the cut is too shiny or not,” Minghao sighs. “But he’ll love it and wear it just the same because _you_ picked it out for him.” 

“I should have asked Seungcheol-hyung to help me pick,” Junhui groans. “You are the worst second opinion.” 

“And you’re the worst best friend ever,” Minghao bites. “It’s _Christmas_.” 

“It’s December 10th,” Junhui fires back. 

“Close enough!” 

“It’s like two weeks before!” 

“Fight me.” 

“Don’t tempt me. I _will_.” 

For some reason, only Junhui got kicked out the jewelry store for disturbing the peace. Walking out of the store to his flabbergasted friend, Minghao is howling with laughter, and somehow Junhui couldn’t find it in himself to get mad. Sure he wasn’t able to buy the ring today, but he hasn’t seen Minghao laugh like that for a while now. 

Not since Mingyu left with Minghao’s heart in tow. Literally. 

—— 

They had made the decision to go to separate colleges. 

Minghao said it was so they could _see other people_. Mingyu stubbornly retaliated that it was so _distance makes the heart fonder_. In fact, they argued right before moving into their respective dorms. 

And that’s how Minghao met Wonwoo, the undead. 

Minghao pretty much flew right through the open window of Mingyu’s dorm in a rage and was ready to kick his boyfriend’s ass when he realized they had an audience. Sitting on the living room couch, Wonwoo had been frozen in wide eyed shock. Understandable, after all, a witch had just burst through the window and threatened to curse his new roommate’s future lineage without any context. 

“He—he’s my boyfriend,” Mingyu gasps, hiding himself behind the living room couch. “He’s just angry. He’s not _really_ here to kill me. Right Hao?” 

“…if you stole some magical artifact from the witch, please return it,” Wonwoo says woefully. “And do apologize. They put in a lot of work for the things they make, and they don’t mind parting with some of their stuff for a price.” 

“You…are correct,” Minghao breathes, still staring Mingyu down. “But no, Mingyu really is my boyfriend. He still needs to apologize to me though.” 

“I did nothing wrong!” Mingyu cries. “Why were you trying to break up with me? I thought witches mated for life!” 

“ _After_ the exchange of heart!” Minghao snaps. “As though we could do that!” 

“Why not?” Wonwoo questions rather innocently. His dark eyes blinked owlishly and the couple stops their squabbling to stare at the undead. 

“…He’s human,” Minghao explains slowly. His Korean became progressively accented as he tried to draw out all the syllables. “He couldn’t live without his heart. We can’t just _take it out_.” 

“Oh, I see,” Wonwoo nods. “I forgot. Humans can die.” 

“…hyung, please don’t ever forget that,” Mingyu pleas. “If the dorm is on fire, please save me. Don’t let me burn to death.” 

“Even _I_ would die from that,” Wonwoo laughs, cheeks rather rosy for an undead. He regards Mingyu for a moment and smiles. “You can always try. For science.” 

“Try?” Mingyu echoes in confusion. 

“Try taking out your heart and seeing if you’ll live,” Wonwoo explains. “There’s got to be some human technology for that somewhere.” 

“Hao, I’m sorry,” Mingyu turns to his boyfriend with a pout. “Is it too late to transfer? I think my roommate has plans to kill me.” 

“Hm, I think I’m also going to sacrifice you to science,” Minghao smirks. 

“For science!” Wonwoo cheers. The two supernaturals high-five each other. 

Mingyu just glares at them both. 

—— 

Junhui managed to find the perfect ring on a whim. He had gone into an old antique store just to browse when a powerful charm called to him. The ring was beautiful, guarded and strong. The antique shop owner was a nervous human who question Junhui again and again— _are you sure? There’s old magic on that one and everyone brings it back saying its unlucky or something._  

“And then I told him, _Sir, I’m a witch. I know exactly what magic is on this ring and I want it_ ,” Junhui says, acting out the entire scenario. 

“Even though you had absolutely no idea what magic it actually was,” Jihoon rolls his eyes, but looks down at his ring finger fondly. 

Just as Minghao had predicted, Jihoon found something wrong with the ring— _the spell is to protect from the undead, we’re going to have a problem with your best man then_. Of course, Jihoon wasn’t one of the most talented witches of their generation for nothing. Wonwoo sat quite comfortably next to Junhui even though other undead warily avoided their party at the back of the large café. 

It wasn’t to say that Minghao wasn’t happy for his best friend. Oh no, if no one else in the world, Minghao believed that Junhui deserved happiness, but Minghao just didn’t want to be there. Too many old friends he had been avoid in the past year and too many familiar faces that glanced at him with concerned looks when they thought he wasn’t looking. 

Before last Christmas, Minghao had been quite close with Wonwoo. The undead had been Mingyu’s closest friend throughout college, and the two supernaturals found themselves sharing quite a few things in common. One of their greatest amusements was their collective exasperation towards Mingyu’s perpetual clumsiness. 

After last Christmas, Minghao had distanced himself from Mingyu’s college friends—Wonwoo, Seungcheol, Hansol and even Junhui for a period of time. He just didn’t want to deal with questions and pity. Everyone knew Mingyu ran out on him. And somehow, all of Mingyu’s college friends knew that he ran away with Minghao’s heart. 

So yes, he’s happy Junhui and Jihoon were finally tying the knot, but no, he did not want to keep avoiding Seungcheol’s pointed looks or Wonwoo’s attempts at conversation. He wanted everyone to leave him the _hell_ alone. 

“Hey Myungho—” 

“For the last time, just _stop_ okay?” Minghao snaps. He turns and immediately feels guilty. Seokmin stares at him in surprise. “…I’m sorry.” 

“Did you want to leave?” Seokmin asks gently. He’s quiet for a change and that in itself was unsettling. Werewolves were usually a loud and rowdy bunch. Seokmin almost never spoke softer than a howl. “Jun-hyung is busy retelling the story of them getting together. He won’t even notice.” 

“I—I shouldn’t,” Minghao sighs. He folds his arms in resignation. “I should be here for him.” 

“Everyone’s just worried for you,” Seokmin says. Minghao feels a spike of irritation, and Seokmin must have smelled it because the werewolf immediately explains himself. “Mingyu’s back.” 

“What,” Minghao whispers. He doesn’t know what kind of pitiful expression was on his face, but Seokmin made a distressed whine in response. This garnered some of the werewolves’ attention, especially Seungcheol’s watchful eye. 

“Mingyu’s back in town,” Seokmin clarifies. He glances at the alpha wolf and winces. Minghao could tell there had been a nondisclosure agreement amongst his werewolf friends and he doesn’t know if that made him feel better or worse. “He’s with our pack right now.” 

“But if you don’t want to see him, I mean—” Seungkwan begins, but he quiets when Seungcheol sends him a warning look. The beta looks down, but the sudden outburst got everyone’s attention.

 _If you need to go, go_ , Junhui thinks to Minghao. _You don’t have to stay_. 

 _Did you know about Mingyu_ , Minghao demands. He could feel his best friend’s hesitancy and Minghao knew the answer. 

“We just wanted you to find out from Mingyu and not for us,” Wonwoo says gently. Minghao glares at the elder, but the undead is unfazed. “We were worried for you.” 

“And your worry is unnecessary,” Minghao scowls. Oh god, the embarrassment was burning up his cheeks and his eyes were tearing. Minghao tries but fails to regulate his breathing. Oh god, every sharp inhale hurt and every tear that escaped his blinking eyes burned down his cheek.  Oh god, everyone knew and everyone pitied him and everyone _knows that he still loves_ —Minghao turns around and runs. 

—— 

Mingyu loved running, and Minghao didn’t quite get it. 

“You literally just circle this track again and again,” Minghao says as Mingyu stops for a quick water break. “Almost like a dragon chasing its tail.” 

Minghao has been sitting on the bench next to the dirt track for the past fifteen minutes watching the human run laps. There was only a few second every lap that Minghao got to annoy his boyfriend, and honestly, this wasn’t how he thought they’d spend a perfectly beautiful Saturday morning. 

“I’m exercising, Hao,” Mingyu said in a deadpan voice, taking a swig of his water. “You should try it.” 

“I get the human physiologic advantage part of this whole hamster wheel thing,” Minghao scowls, flicking the other’s water bottle cap into the grass. Mingyu gives him the most exasperated look before squinting to look for the little piece of plastic. “I just don’t know why you don’t choose to like, play basketball or dance or something.” 

“Running is fun,” Mingyu shrugs. He gives a satisfied hum as he finds his bottle cap and twists it on. “You should try it.” 

“I don’t get the same benefit you do,” Minghao frowns. “I have no need for cardiovascular—” 

“Yeah, your power core is where your energy comes from and it fluctuates with the sun and moon, blah blah blah,” Mingyu interrupts with an eye roll. He pulls Minghao off the bench and starts jogging. “Just come on.” 

Minghao pouts as he dragged around the track in a fast walk. He _still_ doesn’t see the appeal of running around this oval, but Mingyu turns around with the brightest smile. 

“It’s not too bad huh?” his human boyfriend asks slightly out of breath. Mingyu was running backwards and he had yet to let go of Minghao’s hand. While Minghao’s first reaction was to stop in his tracks, he humored the other and picked up his pace. 

It was a little awkward running while holding hands, but they made it work. At each roundabout, their shoulders would bump together. The witch would try to shove Mingyu away, but the human never let go. They successfully finished a lap together before a particularly hard push cause Mingyu to trip over his own feet. 

This time the human tried to shake off the other’s hand, but Minghao held on tight. There was no grace in how they tumbled into the grass together. There had only been playful insults and annoyed scoffs that dissolved into giggles and innocent kisses. 

Minghao still didn’t really get why Mingyu enjoyed running, but he figures that if they ran together, he could heighten Mingyu’s exercise experience. The human merely rolls his eyes at this.

Mingyu loved running and Minghao thought they would always run together. The witch never thought Mingyu would let go of his hand.

\--- 

It was the 22nd when Minghao bumps into Mingyu at the grocery store. 

Their neighborhood was only so big. It was amazing that they hadn’t met earlier. On retrospect, Minghao should have known better than to come to this corner market. This was the one they used to frequent together back in the day, looking for snacks and free samples. The one they used to push carts down the aisle in mock races and that one time they knocked over a display for chocolate— 

“Hao.” 

The warm memory fades into cold reality as Minghao turns towards the other. Mingyu looked the same as he did the winter before, dark hair, tanned skin and that stupid puffy jacket Minghao had accidentally gotten him a size too small. If he still had his heart, Minghao was sure it would have start palpitating. 

Minghao always thought that Mingyu looked strangely dependable in a grocery store, picking out vegetables and evaluating the cuts of meat. Even today, the human was the very picture of a responsible dad—pushing a cart filled with various produce and snacks and crossing off an extensive shopping list. In the past, Minghao was the one with the shopping list. 

“Mingyu,” Minghao greets. “How have you been?” 

The quiet _good, how about you_ shouldn’t have hurt as much as it did. 

Minghao doesn’t know how to respond to that. His first reaction was a scalding _how do you think I fucking been without my heart, poor circulation everywhere, I’m always so fucking cold now_. But he swallows it like a bitter pill. His second response was an equally spiteful, _great until you came back you little—_ but he says neither.

“Good,” Minghao replies slowly. He refuses to break eye contact with the taller man. If he does, he’s admitting to some loss. Minghao refuses to lose. 

“Ah,” Mingyu responds, staring down at something. Minghao frowns and follows Mingyu’s line of sight. The taller man was staring at his shopping basket filled with packets of instant noodles and microwave dinners. Minghao discretely moves his shopping basket behind him.  “Have…have you been eating well?” 

“I—yes, I have,” Minghao answers quickly. Oh god, he didn’t want Mingyu’s pity. He was an adult who could take care of himself, _thank you_ , and he doesn’t need his fiancée—Minghao blinks, oh yeah, last Christmas he—that’s right, he doesn’t need his _ex-_ fiancée to worry. 

“Okay,” Mingyu acknowledges. He doesn’t look very convinced, but doesn’t nag. Not like he used to when they were together. “Will you be at Christmas party?” 

“Probably not,” Minghao admits. He hasn’t gone to any get together that their friends called for the past year. He doubts that he’ll go this Christmas. Not when right after the party, he had—Minghao could almost feel his heart thumping in his chest. 

“Oh, have any plans?” Mingyu asks. He looks a little uncomfortable and fidgety. To be honest, Minghao wants to leave too, but he refuses to be the first to say goodbye. “For Christmas?” 

“No, not really,” Minghao admits. He shifts and the shopping basket swings into his calf. He stumbles forward, regains his balance but drops the basket. Everything spills out with the loud crinkling of plastic packing and crunch of fried noodles. “ _Dammit_ —!” 

“I—let me help,” Mingyu offers. He bends over to pick up the closest fallen ramyeon. 

“ _No_ ,” Minghao yells. Mingyu freezes. Minghao continues to pick up all his foods and throws them haphazardly into the basket. He’s not looking at Mingyu anymore. He’s already lost. “Sorry, I—I’m actually pretty busy so I’m going to just grab all of these and go so—uh, I’ll see you around or actually let’s just not—” 

“Hao, wait,” Mingyu interrupts, but Minghao was already halfway down the aisle. “I need to give you something!” 

The witch hears the human just fine, even as he sprints towards the front of the store. He shoves the shopping basket into a random spot in a shelf and pretty much flies out of the store. He almost forgot how fast the human was, and Mingyu reaches the front doors just as Minghao steps into the parking lot. 

“ _Seo Myungho_! Meet me on Christmas! In front of the tree! _Please_!”

Minghao doesn’t stop, and something rhythmic throbbed in his chest painfully. It was almost like his heart, but that was impossible. Minghao no longer had one. 

\---

Xu Minghao was six when he first met Kim Mingyu. 

They sat together because their names _Mingyu_  and _Myungho_ were next to each other on the roster. The first day of class, Mingyu shoved Myungho’s pencil case off the side of the desk. The human did it on accident, but Minghao had not quite understood the hasty _sorry_ said in Korean. So the witch flicked Mingyu’s pencil case off the table as well. 

Shocked and having never had an apology rejected, Mingyu started crying. Confused and having learned only one way to comfort tears, Minghao pulled the other six year old in a tight hug, whispering in Chinese _it’s okay,_ _don’t cry, I’m sorry_. It was the start of a friendship neither expected.

They were sixteen when Mingyu realized they were practically dating. 

“So are we?” Mingyu asked suspiciously. He leaned over the lunch table to scrutinize his best friend. 

Minghao flushed pink and frowned, “I guess? Why are we talking about this all of a sudden?”

“Seokmin from class 3 says that we’re dating without any of the benefits of dating,” Mingyu explained very seriously. The taller boy hadn’t stopped eating, and Minghao pulled his lunch back just a little to avoid the possible spray of saliva. 

“Benefits of dating?” Minghao squinted. “What does that even mean?” 

“Like we could be kissing and stuff,” Mingyu said, starting off strong but trailing off uncertainly. “And _heavy petting_ whatever that means?” 

“We could do the kissing and stuff,” Minghao mumbled. He glanced at Mingyu’s lips before looking back down at his lunch. He no longer had an appetite, pushing his food from one corner of the container to another. 

“Do you want to kiss me?” Mingyu asked. 

Minghao looked at his best friend and considered the question. As he inspected those lips, Minghao noticed there was a little flake of bread on Mingyu’s lower lip and instinctively reached out to brush it away. Minghao froze. Oh. He pulled back his hand like he was burned. Mingyu stared at him with confusion. 

“Yeah,” Minghao whispered. “I think I do.” 

Their first kiss had been behind the closed door of Minghao’s room as well as their second kiss, third kiss and fourth kiss. And well, they stopped counting after a week. 

They were twenty when Minghao decided Mingyu was the one. He was going to give his heart to Mingyu, fuck anatomical limitations. The human could keep it in a jar for all he cared, but Minghao was going to present it to Mingyu just like his father had to his mother. He might be a little bit of a hopeless romantic, but he’d deny it venomously if anyone asked. 

They were twenty-six when Minghao declared his love in the ultimate manner for witches. They were twenty-six when Minghao still believed in forever. 

Now they were twenty-seven, and it was almost Christmas again. 

\--- 

“So…I heard you met Mingyu,” Jisoo says nonchalantly. 

“Hyung, can we not have this conversation,” Minghao grits out. He already regrets agreeing to help, but he had promised so here he was hanging up streamers and ornaments. 

His old college roommate, Hong Jisoo, taught choir to the children of his church, and they always hosted a performance the day before Christmas. Once a year, Jisoo bribes a group of his friends to help decorate. Last year, Minghao had gone to dinner with Mingyu and his family so he swore that he would help the next year. And as he promised, Minghao was at the church auditorium at eight in the morning to prepare for the afternoon performance. 

“If you’re not coming to the gather at Hannie’s place,” Jisoo continues, sitting on the floor and cutting paper snowflakes. “I hope you do meet with Mingyu.” 

“Who said I wasn’t going to the Christmas party?” Minghao asks with a huff. He levitates a little to hang up the red and gold streamers. “I’ve gone every year.” 

“You’ve insisted that you weren’t going to any Christmas get together since _March,_ ” Jisoo says lightly. 

“I might have changed my mind,” Minghao says stubbornly. 

“Well, Mingyu will be there,” Jisoo informs. 

“I guess I’m not going,” Minghao retort. He was just doing this out of pure stubbornness now. Honestly he just didn’t want to meet Mingyu again. Their last encounter was a fail on his part. Embarrassed, he went back to the market a couple hours later, found his abandoned groceries and looked over his shoulder nervously the entire checkout process. 

“Stop that,” Jisoo scolds. The elder was a faerie, one of those nice ones that helped children get balloons out of trees. But what people didn’t know was that the nice faeries were the worst. They killed with kindness. Minghao never wants to disappoint Jisoo. “You can’t keep running from your problems.” 

“Watch me,” Minghao mutters under his breath. He shoves the push pin into the ceiling a little more forcefully than he needed to and it disappears into the plaster completely. 

“ _Myungho_ ,” Jisoo chides, looking up from his paper cutting. “As much as you hate hearing this, all of us have been worried for you this entire year. You didn’t say anything when Mingyu left. Junhui only found out because you accidentally let it slip during one of your guys’ telepathic conversations. You never talked to any of us and you never _said_ how much it affected you—we all knew though.” 

 _Oh, it affected me alright_ , Minghao thinks resentfully. Another push pin is shoved through the plaster. Ah, he needed more pins. 

“You just disappeared,” Jisoo says sadly. “No one heard anything from you for months at a time.” 

“I needed time alone,” Minghao offers. He does feel a little bad for shoving everyone out of his life, but that was the price of having mutual friends. 

“I don’t know how you feel about Mingyu anymore,” Jisoo admits. Minghao hears the scissors cutting paper again. “But I support whatever you decide okay? Fuck Kim Mingyu, I just want _you_ to get closure.” 

“Hyung,” Minghao breathes, turning to the faerie with wide eyes. He’s _never_ heard his old roommate curse before and they were at _church_. 

“Myungho, you were my friend first. Honestly, Mingyu’s a nice kid but I stand with you,” Jisoo shrugs. “He ran off with your heart literally. If you accept him back. then I’ll support you. If you decide he’s not worth it, I’ll still support you.” 

Minghao is quiet. He wonders if he should have consulted his friends rather than closed himself off. He wonders if he heard these words months ago, whether he would have a calmer mind meeting Mingyu again. Ah, he wasn’t tearing up. Nope, the dust coming off the ceiling was getting in his eye. 

“Myungho, meet with him okay?” Jisoo requests gently. The faerie had a large pile of snowflakes scattered all around him. With a small breath of magic, the snowflakes began sparkling. It was something that awed the children every year and only the delicate touch of a faerie could achieve. “So you can be at peace.” 

“Why does it sound like I’m dying?” Minghao laughs, coughing a little. He returns to the floor to get a couple more streamers and begin stringing up some of the paper ornaments. 

“Are you living though?” Jisoo asks. 

The faerie doesn’t look up from his paper snowflakes, and Minghao is thankful. It was good manners to reply truthfully to a faerie’s questions if they made direct eye contact. And if nothing else, his parents raised him with good manners. 

\---

Minghao remembers that Christmas like it was yesterday. 

He and Mingyu stumbled out of Jeonghan’s cramped apartment for a walk. They were both a little tipsy, and Mingho had a little more of Junhui’s homebrew tonic than he probably should have. Walking down the brightly decorated streets, Minghao felt bold and so in love. 

Usually, he would fight any sort of public displays of affection, but that night, Minghao pulled Mingyu closer. When Mingyu kissed him with a silly excuse of mistletoe, Minghao merely giggled and chased him for another kiss. 

“I don’t know what Jun-hyung gave you, but you should drink more of that,” Mingyu smiles brilliantly. Minghao stuck out his tongue in mock annoyance. They stumbled in front of the large Christmas tree in the middle of the shopping center. 

Minghao didn’t even realize how far they managed to walk—or did he shift them forward?—and the tonic was making the witch so giddy. Staring at his boyfriend, Minghao realized this was perfect. The snow was falling steadily with very little wind, and the Christmas lights scattered colored patches across Mingyu’s skin like tiny blessings. 

He took off his snow jacket and tried to take off his sweaters, but it proved to be quite a difficult task. Startled, Mingyu tugged his sweater back down and laughed into the crook of his neck. 

“Hao, please don’t strip in the middle of the road,” Mingyu chuckled, pulling away with bemused smile. “Maybe you shouldn’t drink more of whatever Jun-hyung gave you.” 

“Mingyu, wait, stand still and just don’t move,” Minghao instructed. He gave his boyfriend a firm but pouty glare. “Don’t move okay?” 

“Yes sir,” Mingyu mock saluted him. The colored lights moved. 

Minghao frowned, “I told you _not_ to move!” 

“Not moving,” Mingyu nodded. 

“Good,” Minghao smiled. He gently pressed a hand against his chest and allowed it to fade into his chest cavity. Mingyu gasped but Minghao wasn’t paying attention. He grabbed his heart and melded all his veins and arteries into each other, isolating the organ. Slowly, Minghao pulled it out, making sure none of the tissues caught onto the threads of his sweater. 

“I love you, Kim Mingyu,” Minghao confessed. Cupping his heart in both hands, Minghao looked up at Mingyu and held it out. The human looked a little startled but not fearful as Minghao had worried. “This may be old fashion witchery but I would be honored if you would accept my heart. I know you will never feel the beat of my heart in your chest nor will I ever have the honor to feel yours. Even so, I want you to have mine.” 

Without the steady beat in his chest, Minghao found himself sobering up quickly. There was a moment of fear that washed over him. What if this was too early? What if this was too much? What if— 

“Uh, do I just take it?” Mingyu asked, scratching his head. “Should I put it in a bag? Or uh, a case? Wait, do I need to preserve it or something?” 

Minghao blinked. Oh, uh. 

“I have a plastic bag here that uh, we brought the alcohol in,” Mingyu said, fumbling in his coat pockets. He stopped and looked at Minghao sheepishly. “That’s not very romantic, is it? Carrying your heart in a grocery store bag.” 

“You’ll take it?” Minghao asked hesitantly. He had always wanted to give Mingyu his heart, but before it had been more of a thought than an actual plan. Something his little romantic witch heart entertained but never expected to come to fruition. The tonic emboldened him and here they were with Minghao holding the organ in both hands and Mingyu looking for something to carry it in. 

“Well, it’s like a witch’s proposal right?” Mingyu questioned. “This is how you mate for life, right? Exchanging hearts. Uh, I thought, um, I thought you were asking me to marry you—or wait, was this not—?” 

Mingyu flushed bright red with the sudden realization that he could have understood the entire scenario wrong. 

“Never mind, here just let me take it and uh,” Mingyu stuttered, making a clumsy grab for Minghao’s heart, but Minghao stepped back. As much as he trusted the taller man, Minghao knew of his boyfriend’s track record for dropping things. Even though he didn’t need it, Minghao was not about to let Mingyu drop his heart into the dirty snow. 

“Yes,” Minghao declared. 

“—and, yes?” 

“Yes, I’m asking you to marry me,” Minghao croaked, his tongue suddenly thick and uncooperative. “Will you marry me, Kim Mingyu?” 

“Yes?” Mingyu answered, but it sounded too much like a question to calm Minghao’s rushing thoughts.

“You don’t sound very sure,” Minghao retorts harshly, more out of embarrassment and hurt than actual anger. 

“Hao, I’ll marry you,” Mingyu reaffirmed quickly. “Seriously, I want to marry you. It’s just—uh, you’re not going to make a ring out of your aorta or anything like that right? That’s not why you’re giving me your heart right?” 

Minghao stared at Mingyu incredulously. There was a silent pause before the witch broke out into peals of laughter. Minghao was shaking so much that he almost dropped his own heart onto the ground. 

“Oh god, _no_ ,” Minghao choked. “Wh—why would you think that?” 

“Well, I mean, humans we do ring exchanges and witches do heart exchanges,” Mingyu shrugged, seemingly very confident in his logic. “So I thought it would be an exchange of rings made from our heart tissues or something.” 

“Mingyu, I—I’m at a loss for words,” Minghao gasped, still laughing. “And for the record, witches do exchange jewelry.” 

“Don’t laugh, it made sense to me okay?” Mingyu pouted. “I panicked okay? It was the first thing that came to mind.” 

“Sure,” Minghao hummed. He balanced his heart in one hand and used the other to unclasp an earring. Managing not to tear off his ear, Minghao offered both—his heart and one earring. “Here’s a substitute for the ring for now.” 

There was no real significance behind his earrings, but he’s had them ever since he got his ears pierced back in middle school. Minghao has always worn earrings while Mingyu hasn’t even had his ears pierced. It was one of Minghao’s trademarks and well, maybe it was a little territorial. But that was what rings were right? 

“I guess I need get my ears pierced then,” Mingyu observed, taking the earring first and putting it into his coat pocket. He then gingerly took Minghao’s heart with both hands. “Hm, no plastic bag?” 

“Dammit Mingyu, it doesn’t bleed or anything,” Minghao scowled. “Just put it in your pocket or something.” 

“But—but I might squish it?” Mingyu whined.

“My heart isn’t as flimsy as yours and it’s automatically charmed when outside my body. Just put it in your pocket before the police think you’ve killed someone,” Minghao chided. “Parading around main street with someone’s heart.” 

“Why are you being so mean to your fiancée?” Mingyu pouted. He slowly fits the heart into his free coat pocket. Mingyu’s pocket bulged weirdly, but at least, it wasn’t just an organ in open air. 

“Well, now I can say that,” Minghao paused for dramatic effect. “I’m _heartless_.” 

“Wonwoo-hyung’s terrible humor is rubbing off on you,” Mingyu said with a deadpan look, but that didn’t last long. Minghao had long realized that Mingyu was weak to surprise kisses, and just as he thought, Mingyu smiled at the first peck. 

Thinking back to it, Minghao doesn’t know what went wrong. They had gone home with smiles and terribly domestic promises. Yet Minghao woke up on December 26th to a half cold bed and no human in sight. 

\--- 

“Why don’t you try looking for him?” Junhui once asked. “We’re witches. We can track down anyone we want.” 

In January, his answer would have been some bullshit about patience and understanding. Maybe Mingyu was trying to figure things out or maybe he was trying to do something stupidly romantic. Minghao waited. 

In June, his answer would have been stubbornness. He was not going to look for an idiot who abandoned him right after they got engaged. Kim Mingyu did not deserve such effort. Nope. Minghao did _not_ wait. 

In December, his answer was fear. It had been a year. What if Mingyu built a life with someone else? What if this was Mingyu’s actual answer to his proposal? After all, actions spoke louder than words, and it wouldn’t be the first-time hearing of the human deserting an inter-species marriage. 

It also wouldn’t be the first-time hearing of a witch cursing a human who left them. So maybe it was a good thing he didn’t go looking for Mingyu, especially if the human had moved on. 

But that didn’t seem right either. 

 _Hao, wait! I need to give you something!_  

Minghao frowns. Was Mingyu going to give him his heart back? Did the human just keep it in his coat pocket for an entire year? Minghao hates that he started chuckling. It was completely possible knowing Mingyu. He frowns again. 

“Hyung, what are you thinking about with such a scary look?” Hansol asks, seating himself down across from the witch. The café was bustling with activity but Minghao managed to clear a small area around his table with his negative aura. He hadn’t even noticed the young vampire coming in. 

“Nothing,” Minghao snaps. He frowns again and repeats himself in a softer voice. “It’s nothing. 

“I heard that Mingyu-hyung’s back,” Hansol comments. Minghao resists the urge to glare. The young vampire had done nothing wrong. In fact, he had been one of Mingyu’s friends who never looked at him with any pity. “Have you seen him yet?” 

“Yeah,” Minghao mutters. “Saw him at the corner mart the other day.” 

“And the corner mart is still there?” Hansol asks in genuine surprise. He begins unloading all the random Christmas decorations out of his backpack. “Huh, Seungkwan was wrong then.” 

“About what?” Minghao asks, keeping his breathing leveled. Oh those werewolves, he loves his friends but sometimes they could be a little much. 

“Oh, well, I heard that when Mingyu-hyung came back, he was too scared to go home ‘cause he thought you’d curse him and his family,” Hansol explains, still unloading Christmas decorations. Minghao blinks. That was a rather small backpack for all those full-sized candles. “You know, the whole _only werewolves could fend off witches’ curses_ thing.” 

“Which is bullshit by the way,” Minghao quips.

“Humans believe it so yeah, that’s why he’s hanging with Seungkwan’s pack,” Hansol continues. He pulls out a long string of Christmas lights and Minghao couldn’t help squinting suspiciously. 

“For a species that religiously _rejects_ Christmas, you certainly have a lot of decorations,” Minghao hums. “And that’s a very well made enchanted bag.” 

“Oh, Chan made this for me, and these are all Seungkwan’s,” Hansol shrugs. He pulls out the last tree topper—a large diamond, and tosses it onto the tiny café table. It sways dangerously on the pile of other knick-knacks. “Chan got his wizardry license like three months ago. We invited you to the celebration, but you weren’t available.” 

Minghao ignores the stab of guilt. He has always been fond of Lee Chan. The younger was such a good enchanter that no one doubted he would be a successful wizard. Getting a wizardry license, especially since Chan was human through and through, was a _big_ deal. 

“Ah, I should probably give him a call then,” Minghao says. He shifts uncomfortably in his seat. 

“Hyung, we get it,” Hansol smiles. “Gotta take care of yourself first.” 

“How have you been?” Minghao asks. He can’t remember the last time he’s talked to the younger vampire and that made his stomach turn for more reasons than one. “Your projects going well?” 

“Yep, almost done,” Hansol nods. He starts sorting through the Christmas decorations with a frown. “I don’t think Jeonghan-hyung’s going to need all of this.” 

“I’m just a delivery boy today,” Minghao laughs. He shrinks the table along with all the decorations. Picking up the miniature table, Minghao tips the decorations into a shopping bag before returning the café table to it normal size. “Jeonghan-hyung can figure out what he wants to do with all of this.” 

“You’re not coming to the Christmas party, huh?” Hansol asks. 

“Nope,” Minghao replies firmly. The young vampire seems to want to say something, but decides against it. They both zip up their bags and clear the table in silence. Walking outside, Minghao turns to say goodbye. 

“Do you still wear those earrings?” Hansol asks suddenly. “The small hoop ones.” 

“I—well, I’m missing one so no,” Minghao answers. He tries not to think of where the other one went.

“Ah, just wondering,” Hansol dimisses, shrugging on his backpack. “Mingyu-hyung got his ears pierced apparently and, well, he wears a hoop one that looked like the one you used to wear so. Yeah, just wondering.” 

Minghao opened his mouth to say something—what he’s not sure, but Hansol had already shifted away. Even so, Minghao stared at the empty spot the vampire occupied with wide eyes. 

 _Seo Myungho! Meet me on Christmas! In front of the tree! Please!_  

If he seemed a little off when he handed off the decorations to Jeonghan, the older nymph made no comment. 

“We’ll miss you at the Christmas party,” Jeonghan says with a sad smile. Minghao tries to pretend it hasn’t been five months since he saw his friend. “If you don’t have any plans, please try coming.” 

“I have plans,” Minghao replies. He’s shocked at his own conviction, but he’s made his decision. “I have plans on Christmas.” 

“That’s good,” Jeonghan smiles. “Try to swing by for New Year’s then.” 

“Okay, I will,” Minghao promises, and he intends to keep this one, regardless of what happens with Mingyu. He was going to get his closure. Mingyu owed that much to him. 

\--- 

This year, the Christmas tree was decorated in a gaudy layer of blue and silver ribbon and whatever else they managed to find in that color scheme. Even the lights and fake snow were different shade of blue. Minghao grimaced. It was so overdone and he had to stand here until Mingyu came. 

Minghao had been halfway to the shopping center when he realized the human never said a time, just Christmas. There was twenty-four hours in Christmas, and Minghao doesn’t want to stand out here for hours looking like someone stood him up. 

It was already five in the afternoon. He’s been standing here garnering looks of condolence from passersby for the past two hours. Minghao sighs and groans before he digs his phone out of his pocket. Forcing his numb fingers to move, he dials Wonwoo’s number and waits. 

“ _Myungho?_ ” the undead answers uncertainly. He hears someone bark and the noise in the background fade. 

“You’re at Seungcheol-hyung’s den right?” Minghao demands. 

“ _Yes?_ ” Wonwoo answers carefully. 

“Tell Kim fucking Mingyu to come to the stupid tree,” Minghao relays. “I refuse to stand out here any longer. It’s cold and I have shitty circulation because _someone_ took my heart.” 

“ _I’ll be there in ten_.” 

Minghao blinks. Oh, that wasn’t Wonwoo. He forgets how similar they sound on the phone. Usually Minghao could tell from how they addressed him. Wonwoo called him _Myungho_ , but Mingyu always called him _Hao_. He hasn’t called him by his full name for years. 

“ _Hao? Hao, are you still there?_ ” 

“I’m only giving you six minutes,” Minghao says briskly and hangs up. It was impossible for Mingyu to get here in that time, but he felt almost entitled to cause the human panic. Minghao wasn’t going to leave until Mingyu got there. He came today on a mission. He was here for his closure. 

“ _Hao!_ ” 

Minghao frowns. It almost sounded like Mingyu was there already. But he had just gotten off the phone and if they were at the den— 

“ _Look out Hao!_ ” 

—it almost sounded like it was coming from above. Minghao looks up. There he was, Kim Mingyu in all his six feet glory, _falling out of the sky_. 

“Holy _shit_ ,” Minghao yelps in shock. 

He doesn’t even think before jumping and flinging himself at the falling human. Grabbing Mingyu in a tight embrace, Minghao twists them so he’ll hit the ground first. He was a witch. Witches didn’t get injured as easily as human did, but they were still a good distance from the earth. Clenching his teeth, Minghao screwed his eyes shut, bracing himself for the impact. This was going to _hurt_. 

But the collision doesn’t happen. Minghao opens one eye slowly. From the sky, a small figure waves down at them. 

“Sorry Mingyu-hyung! I forgot you couldn’t fly!” 

Minghao exhales. They were frozen two inches off the stone pavement. Minghao inhales. The spell releases and Minghao wheezes as he slams into the ground with Mingyu’s full weight on him. The human was quick to roll of him and glare up at the sky. 

“Remind me next time!” 

“Lee Chan! Not all humans can fly like you okay!” Mingyu yells. “Thanks for almost _killing me_!” 

“Eh, Myungho-hyung wouldn’t have let that happen!” Chan calls back. “Miss you Myungho-hyung, we should catch up sometime! Bye-bye!” 

“Cheeky little brat,” Mingyu mutters. “Now he’s a _wizard_ , too awesome for the rest of the human species.” 

“He did get you here quickly,” Minghao comments. He standing up, brushing of whatever snow and dirt that got caught on his snow jacket. Mingyu was still laying on the ground, staring up at him. 

“Yeah, I guess he did,” Mingyu smiles feebly. He pushes himself up and it was then Minghao noticed the earring. He was wearing Minghao’s earring. The ring substitute. 

“You got your ears pierced,” Minghao observes. 

“Yeah, I did,” Mingyu responds. He touches the earring nervously. “I was worried that I’d lose it if I kept it in my pocket.” 

“Like my heart?” Minghao asks. He couldn’t help how spiteful it came out. He tries to stop himself, but the words tumble out. “It would have been nice if you could have given both back if you were going to _just leave_.” 

“Hao, I—” 

“ _Don’t call me that_ ,” Minghao growls before he could stop himself. He was here for closure, yes, but he’ll be damned if he doesn’t give Mingyu a piece of his mind. “First, you leave _after we got engaged mind you_ and there’s no word from you. New Year’s passes and even you own family has no fucking idea where you went!” 

Mingyu stares at him blankly. Minghao wants walk over and shake the human. React, say something, do something! But the witch knows that if he touches Mingyu, he’ll pull the other man into a hug or a kiss or something he’ll regret. So Minghao stays right there, clenching and unclenching his fists. 

“Then you come back and say you want to meet me?” Minghao continues, his voice pick up in volume. He’s not the type of make a scene in public, but the witch feels almost entitled to it. “Did you think of me when you were gone? Did you hold my heart in your hands and maybe wonder whether that was a big deal? Did you maybe think of _giving it back_ if you were going to leave?” 

“I can’t give it back,” Mingyu interrupts.

“ _Well then_ , I’m sure you dropped it somewhere like you dropped out of my life!” Minghao spits. And Mingyu finally flinches. It used to be an endearing joke— _you drop everything, just like how you dropped into my heart_ , and it almost felt wrong to be using it like this. “What are you going to give me if you don’t have my heart? My earring? You’re going to need to take it off first.” 

“Hao, I—do you still love me?” Mingyu asks. His voice was so small and Minghao almost feels bad. 

“What do you think?” Minghao retorts. Of course, he still loved Mingyu. Why would he be so upset if he didn’t? And it hurt more than he wanted to admit to see Mingyu’s devastated expression. 

“I’m sorry, I—I should have contacted you, I should have told you,” Mingyu starts to ramble, voice thin and high. The human was going to cry, and Minghao hates how his anger deflates. “It’s just that we didn’t know if I’d live through it, so I didn’t want you to know and so if I died, well, I—I’m sorry Hao. I’ll give you your heart back. I just need a little time.” 

Minghao sighs. Once Mingyu finishes his rant, the tears started trickling down his cheeks. He knew his human too well. The witch smiles a crooked smile. He still only knows one way to comfort tears. Minghao walks up to the taller man and pulls him in for a tight hug. Reflexively, Mingyu buries his nose into the crook of Minghao’s neck and the huff of choked sobs tickles the witch’s collarbones. 

 _Shh, it’ll be okay, you’ll be okay_ , Minghao whispers in Chinese, rubbing soothing circles into the human’s back. _I love you. I never stopped loving you. You’ll be okay, I love you_. 

“Do you really?” Mingyu asks in a muffled voice. 

“Yes and you’re a dumbass for assuming otherwise,” Minghao snorts. 

“You were just so angry, I—I’ve never seen you so angry,” Mingyu mumbles. The human pulls away, but Minghao grips the back of his neck and forces him back. “Hao?” 

“You’ve also never left me for an entire year without saying a word,” Minghao huffs. He was probably going to cry, and he refuses to let Mingyu see. He was angry, yes, oh god he probably won’t let this go until next Christmas, but Mingyu was back. And he apparently tried to do something stupid that almost cost him his life. Typical. How so fucking typical. “I’ve never had a fiancée run off after the engagement. I’ve never given away my heart before. This was also the first time I went an entire year without a blood pump.” 

“Terrible circulation, I’m sorry,” Mingyu chuckles. The movement tickles the witch’s neck and he squirms away, but this time Mingyu was the one who doesn’t let go. Arms wrapped around his waist, Mingyu exhales quite heavily just to get the same reaction. 

“You don’t seem terribly sorry,” Minghao scowls, but doesn’t put up much of a fight. 

“I am,” Mingyu apologizes. “I’m sorry that I left without letting you know. I’m sorry that I worried you. I’m sorry I took your heart for a year. I’m sorry that you were cold.” 

“Hm, so what are you going to do to make it up to me then?” Minghao says gently. 

“Well, I’m a human heater so,” Mingyu smiles, tightening his hold on the witch. “You can take all my body heat!”     

“I’m surprised at how PG your answer was,” Minghao chuckles. The movement jostled some tears to slide down his cheek. Ah, dammit. 

“I don’t think striping in the middle of road would be a good idea,” Mingyu smiles. Minghao freezes. Mingyu releases his hold on Minghao and takes off his snow jacket. 

“And why are you taking off your clothes then?” Minghao questions, wiping away those stray tears quickly. The human shifts and swings a carrier bag to the front. He didn’t even notice that Mingyu had it on him. The witch stares at the weirdly bulging bag—it looked like some kind of box and it crinkled like styrafoam. Oh. 

“Oh, here hold this,” Mingyu instructs, shoving both the jacket and a carrier bag at Minghao. “Alright, now give me the bag.” 

Minghao wordlessly hands Mingyu the carrier bag. 

“It’s not in a shopping bag,” Minghao comments. 

“Well, my heart is much more flimsy than yours,” Mingyu replies. He digs out the box—yep, a white styrafoam box, and presents it to Minghao. “Would you accept my heart?” 

“ _Your_ heart?” Minghao frowns. “How can you be alive if this was _your_ heart— _no, you didn’t_.” 

Mingyu puts his hand over his chest in excitement and nods, “Yep, because yours is here!” 

“ _Idiot_!” Minghao screeches. He makes a move to hit the human but forces himself to stop. Mingyu could drop the box and he was right, human hearts were much more flimsy. “You could have died! No one has tried implanting a witch’s heart into a human! Oh my god, if I find out that Wonwoo-hyung had _any_ —” 

“Well, that’s why I didn’t want to tell you!” Mingyu pouts with those sad puppy eyes. Minghao likes to claim that over the years he’s become immune to them, but honestly, they worked just as well as when they were six. “I knew you were going to react like this!” 

“Maybe you shouldn’t have done something so—so _stupid_ then!” Minghao gasps. It hits him all of a sudden that he could have _lost_ Mingyu. Heart transplants were still not fail proof between humans, and the fact his stupid human tried to do a _cross-species_ —Minghao takes a deep breath. 

“It’s just…you always spoke of the heart exchange between your parents like it was the ultimate show of love,” Mingyu tries to explain. Mingho stares at his human. Hopeless romantics. Both of them. “When you gave me your heart, I—I really wanted to make it happen. I knew you would say no and that it was stupid, but it was a success! I really like your heart and I hope, I really hope you’ll take mine.” 

“This was not how I wanted Christmas to go,” Minghao exhales. 

“Sorry,” Mingyu apologizes again. “I—I had planned everything for after the Christmas party, like last year? I had stuff set up and everything for later. I was really surprised when you called. So yeah, I didn’t even get a chance to wrap this.” 

To say the witch wasn’t touched at all was a big fat lie. He couldn’t even describe the bubbling elation that _his human_ was standing there with _his heart_. If Minghao concentrated hard enough, he could feel the steady beats thumping against his own chest. Ah, so this is what he felt in the supermarket. His own heart responding to his emotions.

“You were the one who didn’t specify the time, but yes, I’ll take it,” Minghao sighs, grabbing the styrafoam box from Mingyu’s hands. “Before you drop it or something.”

“You ran away so fast! I didn’t have time to tell you when!” Mingyu exclaims, relinquishing the box. “And I wouldn’t drop my own heart!”

“Your track record isn’t very promising,” Minghao says with a deadpan look. He looks at the styrafoam container with slight confusion. Hm, does he just put it in his chest now?

“I wouldn’t drop _your_ heart,” Mingyu says shyly. “My heart is _your_ heart now.”

“That’s nice,” Minghao agrees. The witch knows how to take out his own, but to put someone else’s heart in was another story altogether. Can he just fade it through his chest like he does his own?

“Hao, are you even listening?” Mingyu frowns. His previously bashful expression replaced with irritation. 

“Yes,” Minghao answers. Maybe he’ll need to call his parents for this one. Ah, thankfully he never told them about them the engagement or Mingyu’s disappearance. That would have been a sticky situation. His mother was extremely protective and probably would have cursed all of Mingyu’s descendants.

“Hao!” Mingyu calls, waving his hands in front of the witch’s face. “You there?” 

“ _Mingyu_ , I’m trying to think okay?” Minghao scolded. Mingyu shrinks a little. “I’m thankful and I’m touched and I love you! What else do you want me to say?” 

“Actually listening to me would be nice,” Mingyu mutters with a petulant look. “And maybe a kiss—” 

Mingyu is cut off with a firm press of lips, and just as suddenly as it came, Minghao pulls back. 

“Mistletoe,” was the witch’s only explanation before turning away and walking down the street. Mingyu touches his lips with a smile. He looks up. The skies were clear with no plant in sight.    

“Mingyu, are you coming home or what?” Minghao calls over his shoulder. 

 _Home_. 

“Hao! Wait for me!” Mingyu shouts in glee. Grabbing the other’s hand, the human barely makes it before Minghao shifts them all the way back to their old apartment door. Honestly, Mingyu didn’t care where they ended up. 

Home was where the heart was—Mingyu looks down at the white styrafoam box and then the witch he loves, and now, Minghao was home. 

\--- 

 _I’ll give it to someone special, who’ll give me something in return._  

\--- 

“Now, _that’s_ romantic,” Seungkwan sighs. 

“Just for the record, I don’t have a functional heart,” Hansol pipes in. 

“Werewolves don’t exchange hearts,” Seungkwan glowers at his boyfriend. “Maybe you could try getting me something that _wasn’t_ made of silver. That might be pretty romantic, not trying to kill me.”

“I already said sorry!” the vampire sulks. “I didn’t know the pendant was silver. It looked like gold okay.” 

“It said _gilded silver_ on the tag!” Seungkwan exclaims. 

“So Mingyu’s heart is in Minghao’s chest and Minghao’s heart is in Mingyu’s?” Soonyoung questions, redirecting the conversation. The older human seems concerned, and Minghao definitely understands and shares the worry. “Mingyu, you’re… _alright_?” 

“I said this like four times already!” Mingyu cries. “They put me on observation for like six months before they let me go! I was hooked up on all sorts of machines and I was on all sorts of drugs and I did like five million heart scans!” 

“No organ rejection,” Wonwoo mutters quietly. “Fascinating. You’d think there would be _some_ sort of autoimmune response to an organ of a different species.” 

“Can you speak in a language we can all understand?” Junhui asks in confusion. 

“He could say it in Chinese and you still wouldn’t get it,” Jihoon rolls his eyes but pats his fiancée on the shoulder encouragingly. “It’s okay.” 

“I’m still going to take him to the hospital to get regular check-ups,” Minghao informs. Mingyu makes an annoyed noise, but Minghao quiets him with a look. “We don’t know if there will be any long-term side effects. You are going.” 

“Probably smart,” Jeonghan nods. The New Year’s party was pretty much forgotten as everyone crowded around the newly reunited couple. There seemed to be a countdown going on, but no one was watching the television anymore. “And what about you Myungho? Any problems?”

“Nope,” Minghao denies. He pats his chest happily. After an extensive call to Minghao’s parent’s—in which they scolded Mingyu for attempting something so risky, the witch fades his human’s heart into his ribcage without any problems. There was no problem with reconnecting his arteries and veins to the organ either. “It’s working just fine." 

“I think it’s the power of love,” Mingyu says with a cheeky smile. He leans over to thread their fingers together. Minghao gives him a disgusted look, and the human crinkles his nose. “Okay, that was a little too much even for me.”

“The power of _love_ ,” Seokmin sings loudly.

“It’s not impossible,” Chan muses. “I mean, witches are well known for powerful curses _and_ protection charms. So Mingyu-hyung might be protected from any harm because of Myungho-hyung’s strong protection.”

“The stronger the love, the stronger the protection,” Jihoon affirms. He presses his lips together in thought. “Actually, maybe.”

“That _is_ pretty romantic,” Jisoo giggles. He leans into Jeonghan, and they share a knowing look. 

“Happy New Year’s everyone!” Seungcheol yells, crashing into their circle with rosy cheeks. He throws himself onto Jisoo and Jeonghan and starts howling. The other werewolves couldn’t help but follow his lead. In the background, the television shows some celebration with falling confetti and the new year in bright lights. 

Soon everyone was making some kind of noise, whether it be howling, yelling, scolding, laughing or protesting. 

The rowdy werewolves managed to shove everyone off the couch. Having fallen in between the space of the couch and the coffee table, Minghao takes the chance to roll on top of Mingyu. The human looks up at him with sparkling eyes and eager breaths. 

Minghao leans in for a kiss, only to change directions in the last second and presses his lips against Mingyu’s clothed chest. Even through the fabric, Minghao could feel _his_ heart pulse in response. Smiling, he looks back at Mingyu only to see the most awestruck expression on the human’s face. 

“I love you,” Mingyu whispers, and even with the background racket, Minghao hears him well. 

“I know,” Minghao laughs. He doesn’t fight when Mingyu brings him up for a proper kiss. 

Mingyu’s heart skipped a beat and so did Minghao’s.

\--- 

_last Christmas I gave you my heart, and this Christmas you gave me yours_

 

**Author's Note:**

> SORRY, MERRY BELATED CHRISTMAS EVERYONE. I meant for this to be my present, but alas I'm late as always. I tried to beta it myself but alas, that never works out well, so please forgive any mistakes! I will come back and edit it when I'm...not trying to miss Christmas by a full 72 hours haha! 
> 
> And also, I took A LOT of liberties with all the supernatural species. I mixed and matched lots of stories/myths/beliefs and made up some so if there's something glaringly wrong, I appreciate everyone's understanding! 
> 
> This was a little idea that's been turning in my head since Halloween~ Hopefully a slightly different take on the whole Last Christmas song~ ^^ 
> 
> It's like 3AM over here and I'm getting a little delirious so I'm going to stop talking right now and come back to edit tomorrow morning--er, later in the morning. 
> 
> Hope everyone had a good holiday season! And to those who celebrate other holidays or don't celebrate at all, hope you had a great weekend!!!


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